Starved of funds, Karnataka's Indira Canteens on verge of closure

Indira Canteens, which have been offering reasonably priced meals to the poor, are in doldrums.  These outlets, touted as Karnataka’s answer to the Amma Canteens in neighbouring Tamil Nadu, are on the verge of closure, plagued by problems ranging from non-payment of bills to contractors, to salary arrears, to maintenance challenges, to a drop in food quality and quantity.

Former Congress Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s pet project has turned into a white elephant today, largely because it is not supported by the BJP, the current ruling party. This neglect has led to the canteens shutting down one by one. For the BJP, the issue is largely with the name ‘Indira’. 

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Siddaramaiah told The Federal that when he took oath as Chief Minister on Basava Jayanti, he had made Sharana-Dasoha legacy a government programme. “Indira Canteens started to satisfy the hunger of the poor of all castes and creeds. However, the BJP government, which cannot tolerate the poor having two full meals, is strangling the neck of Indira Canteens,” he said.

“It is a sinful act. It is very sad that this sin is happening during Basavaraja Bommai’s rule. The BJP will be cursed by the hungry poor people and our government will return in two months and our commitment to a hunger-free Karnataka will continue,” added Siddaramaiah. 

The project was inaugurated by the then Congress vice-president, Rahul Gandhi, in August 2017 in Bengaluru. Under this scheme, snacks are provided at just ₹5, while meals are served at ₹10, catering largely to labourers, migrants, and students.

BJP upset with the name ‘Indira’

Even as Indira Canteens were appreciated by many sections of society, the Opposition parties at that time, the BJP and the JD(S), were unhappy, seeing the move as a ‘strategic’ one by Siddaramaiah to win goodwill among the electorate.

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Siddaramaiah implemented this project along the lines of Tamil Nadu’s Amma Canteens, which was started by the former late CM Jayalalithaa. The only difference is that the DMK government continued with the project even after it defeated the AIADMK in 2021. 

The name ‘Indira’ was opposed by the BJP when it was in the Opposition. Later, several party leaders including R Ashok and CT Ravi made statements about changing the canteen’s name when the BJP came to power again in the state. However, Congress leaders including Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar threatened to protest if the BJP attempted to change the name.

BJP’s neglect of Indira Canteens

What the BJP leaders and the government couldn’t do to the name, they are doing to the project itself. Starved of budgetary allocation, the canteens have been unable to pay the contractors on time. This has led to their gradual decimation.

In the few canteens that are managing to stay afloat, the food items on the menu have dramatically reduced and the quality of the food too has dropped.  

More than 400 Indira canteens were started across the state  in 2017. About ₹145 crore was earmarked for this purpose in the 2017-18 budget. In the 2019-20  budget, the JD(S) led coalition government did not allocate any funds  to the project.

The budget was passed in the same year by the newly-formed BJP government without mentioning Indira Canteens.

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The Karnataka government has not made any budgetary allocations for the Indira canteens since 2019. The BJP government was supposed to allocate around ₹210 crore  every year for Indira Canteens, according to data obtained from Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike. (Though the BBMP is running the canteens in Bengaluru, the funds  are to be allocated by the government.)

According to a former BBMP commissioner, the local bodies were struggling to maintain their own expenditures, and could not allocate any funds for the canteens.

Problems plaguing Indira Canteens

Since the BJP government has been dragging its feet in providing funds for the maintenance of these canteens, many mobile canteen services have been suspended. Night meals in 35 outlets have been suspended in Bengaluru. The canteens  in Bangalore Rural, Chikkaballapur, Ramanagara, Tumkur and Haveri districts are on the verge of closing down.

More than 50 canteens have already shut down in many parts of the state. In several taluks, the canteens are not functioning at all.

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The food quality has dropped in most of the canteens, the meal quantity has been reduced by 35 per cent, the canteens are no longer clean and contractors are running helter-skelter trying to clear their outstanding bills. In some cases, the arrears have been pending for more than two years.

In the early days, 300-400 people used to patronise each of these canteens for breakfast. More than 350 people ate lunch. Today, not even 50 people eat a meal there. 

The canteens have stopped providing kesri bath, their signature dish that used to be on the Sunday menu. Also, idli, sambar, pickles, and yoghurt are not served regularly. Instead of pulao and puliyogare,  only obattu is served as  daily breakfast. Earlier, there were checks on the food quality but now officials say they are helpless and cannot take any action  against the contractors because of the issue of non-payment of arrears.

If the canteen menu is improved, more people will come, pointed out a BBMP official, adding that even rich people used to drop in at these canteens for a meal.

No water supply

The woes of Indira Canteens continue to mount. For instance, the Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB)  has disconnected the water connection of several outlets in Bangalore. The contractors managing the canteens get water through tankers. For more than two years a sum of over ₹2 crore is to be paid to the BWSSB but the money has to be released by BBMP, which has not happened, said an official.

All the seven Indira Canteens under Kalaburagi Mahanagara Palike have also been shut down. “Contractors have not been paid for the last 30 months and arrears have mounted to the tune of ₹7 crore. Thus, the canteen has been closed because it is not possible to run it,” said Ramnath Patil, one of the contractors of an Indira Canteen in Kalaburagi city.

In Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts, customers said the food quality of Indira Canteen may not be good, but the premises continue to be clean.

Protests by Congress 

Congress leaders have started protesting against what they call the ‘systematic closure’ of Indira Canteens. Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee working president Ramalinga Reddy and others recently staged a protest in Bengaluru, saying the BJP is against the poor and therefore is not maintaining the canteens.

In the past, Indira Canteens used to feed 1.60 lakh people daily and that number had even crossed 2.28 lakh at one point. And during COVID, the canteens provided food for around 3.10 lakh people every day. But, today, politics is wiping out the project.